Washington, September 8: The ongoing peace negotiations between the United States and Taliban were called off by President Donald Trump late on Saturday. The decision, Trump said, was taken after Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bombing in Kabul which ended up killing 12 people including an American soldier. The attack was carried out by the insurgent group to strengthen their bargaining position in the ongoing talks, he added.

Trump claimed that he had invited top leaders from the Taliban camp and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for a secret meeting at Camp David -- the President's personal country retreat in Maryland -- for separate meetings on Sunday. The car bombing in Kabul has, however, forced him to cancel the engagements.

"Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations," he said.

"What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position," Trump questioned, adding that it is futile to negotiate with a group which is ready to spill the blood of innocents to strengthen their bargaining position.

Read Trump's Tweet Below:

"If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?" the President added.

Reports citing top officials privy to the matter had claimed that the US President, as well as his National Security Advisor John Bolton, had turned averse to the ongoing peace deal. Their apprehensions increased after the Taliban's refusal to engage in any sort of dialogue with the Ashraf Ghani government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 08, 2019 09:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).